Hollywood gets the crummy summer box office it paid for - Los Angeles Times

The Nugget

  • Hollywood's summer box office slump is a result of a combination of factors, including a lack of appealing movies, production delays, and changing consumer behaviors.

Make it stick

  • 🎬 Hollywood movies can be great art but poor business decisions simultaneously.
  • 🎥 The decline in summer box office numbers is attributed to various factors like production delays and a thin release schedule.
  • 🎞️ Consumer motivations are changing with streaming, social media, and online content taking up more mindshare.
  • 📉 Prequels like "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" face significant challenges in attracting audiences.

Key insights

Decline in Box Office Numbers

  • The summer box office has suffered due to a lack of successful movie releases, with many films failing to resonate with audiences.
  • Factors contributing to the decline include production delays caused by strikes, cost-cutting measures by studios, and a shift in consumer behavior towards other forms of entertainment.

Challenges of Prequels

  • Prequels like "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" face difficulties in attracting viewers, with historical examples like "Solo: A Star Wars Story" struggling at the box office.
  • The choice of titles like "A So-and-So Story" also may not be appealing to audiences, impacting the commercial success of such movies.

Impact of Changing Consumer Behaviors

  • The film industry is facing challenges from the rise of streaming platforms, social media, and online content, diverting attention away from traditional theater experiences.
  • Changing consumer motivations, including the preference for home viewing over theater trips, are influencing box office performance and industry dynamics.

Key quotes

  • "Moviegoing thrives on momentum and rhythm: one strong movie after another bringing fans to the multiplex once or more per month." - David A. Gross
  • "Prequels are a tough sell for audiences. How many prequels have actually succeeded in recent years?" - Article author
  • "Hollywood has fallen victim to its own sky-high, irrational box office expectations." - Mary McNamara
  • "Consumer motivations have changed in a fundamental way for a number of people." - Article author
  • "Betting on a prequel was a major gamble, banking on the hope that people outside the core demographic would care." - Article author
This summary contains AI-generated information and may have important inaccuracies or omissions.